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Historic Time Capsule’s Contents Are Wet

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HUNTINGDON (July 15) — What county officials hoped would be a day of celebration instead resulted in disgust when the time capsule buried July 28, 1972 was opened.

The vault, used for the buried time capsule, had leaked, ruining much of the content. The capsule was buried on the courthouse lawn. Citizens had placed personal items in it for the citizens to open and inspect in July 2022.

“Our worst fears are realized,” said Carroll County Mayor Joseph Butler when the contents were revealed during an ceremonial opening inside the Exhibit Building at the Carroll County Civic Center. It was a sludge of historic items, all wet from water that entered the ‘waterproof’ vault.

The capsule had been excavated from the courthouse lawn earlier on Friday and moved to the Exhibit Building on Mustang Drive. Butler said the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and others had drained water from the vault on the parking lot prior to entering the building, where an audience of people were seated and ready for, what they hoped, were historic documents and souvenirs.

“We have been forewarned, but are cautiously optimistic,” Butler said. He noted that recent opening of sealed vaults in other communities resulted in water ruining the historic documents.

The mayor told the audience that if the contents are wet, then we will treat the event as a funeral and file past the open vault to look in.

Prior to the event, the public was cautioned about being disappointed. “We caution everyone to realize that the integrity of the vault may have been compromised during the last fifty years, so the contents may be in poor condition,” Brad Hurley, president of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce said in a news release prior to the opening.

The slimy contents revealed a few newspapers that were on the top. Some of the attendees were there to retrieve letters that were written by their family members, or by school children. Harold and Deborah Sullivan were in hopes to retrieving their marriage license from July 1972. They were married at the courthouse. For their wedding ceremony, Harold wore a Abraham Lincoln-style hat and Deborah wore an old-style dress during that sesquicentennial celebration. Their photos were in the newspapers, which they hoped to view during Friday’s event.

Last Friday, Brenda Gregg had photos of the event 50 years earlier. Those photos were made by Brownie Grooms, her dad.